Events
Embassy Co-sponsors Supreme Court Seminar at CBS
Copenhagen Business School
September 22, 2006
On September 22, the Center for the Study of the Americas at Copenhagen Business School and the Embassy of the United States in Copenhagen held a seminar on the Supreme Court and its role in the U.S. political process. The seminar drew an audience of around 150, including several Danish Supreme Court judges and a number of students from CBS.
In recent decades the Supreme Court has played a major part in US public debate. In a polarized political context, both sides have increasingly looked to the Supreme Court for decision on controversial issues like privacy, freedom of speech, abortion and the death penalty. This, in turn, has given rise to renewed discussions about the role of the Court and its scope of action in relation to the Constitution. At the same time the nomination of new judges has become intensely contested political ground.
Bjerre-Poulsen, Director of the Center for the Study of the Americas and Ambassador Cain opened the seminar. The first speaker of the afternoon was David Savage, of the Los Angeles Times. Savage is a journalist specializing in the Supreme Court and in constitutional issues. His presentation titled The Supreme Court as a Mirror of Change and Debate in American Society featured a overview of the role of the Court in relation to controversial matters such as affirmative action, religion, abortion and the use of the death penalty.
He was followed by the President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center Edward Whelan III. Wheelan spoke on the Supreme Court Confirmation Process based on his experiences as former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Edward Whelan was also a prominent commentator on the last two Supreme Court nominations, John G. Roberts and Samuel Alito. In his presentation, Edward Whelan discussed the legal and political aspects of the confirmation process.
The third speaker of the afternoon was Edwin S. Kneedler who spoke on Advocacy and the Role of the Executive Branch before the Supreme Court. Kneedler is a Deputy Solicitor-General in the Office of the Solicitor General, the office in the Department of Justice that represents the United States Government before the Supreme Court. Edwin Kneedler described the role of the Solicitor General, special aspects of government cases in the Court, and the nature of advocacy before the Court. The final speaker was Professor Robert McKeever, Head of the Department of Law, Governance and International Relations at London Metropolitan University. He spoke on the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John G. Roberts; examining possible developments of the Court under his leadership.
The seminar was rounded off by a panel discussion featuring all four speakers addressing questions from the floor.